Is not the "Pet Store Reference Application"
supposed to illustrate how to do proper web application programming with the latest technology ?

And should not the new technolgies with JSF, JST and EL be able to eliminate the need of having java code in JSP pages ?

Were we not supposed to be able to do iteration with XML syntax (with these new technologies) instead of java code (as the example below) ?

I am kind of wondering what have really been achieved during all these years (since I was hacking JSP scriplets in the year of 2000) if we still have to use java code in the JSP pages ?
(just adding additional technologies without even eliminating the old one, creating a mess of many languages within the same JSP page...)

If we do not anymore have to use JSP scriplets, then why is not this "reference application" illustrating how to do a web application without the old JSP stuff ?

This is an example of what I am talking about in the "search.jsp" of the pet shop application:

I totaly aggree. Please, replace all scriplet with JSTL. This application is supposed to be the JEE reference.
This application should be a perfect exemple to convince people to stick to JEE standards.